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As I’ve mentioned before, both of my boys have some special needs. Colt is suspected to have Asperger’s syndrome, we’re currently going through the diagnosis progress and Riley is partially blind and has a few learning delays. I’ve had a number of questions about how I teach my special needs children in homeschool. I know that homeschooling a special needs child seems more overwhelming than homeschooling a regular child. But honestly, it isn’t that much different and it’s so rewarding to do so. Special needs kids flourish with one-on-one teaching and that’s something that is much easier to achieve in a homeschool setting. Public schools do not always have the capability to give special need children the help they really need. Here is some basic information that I found has worked with homeschooling my special needs child
Bible – Use manipulatives, felt-board characters are good, as are dolls and “action” figures, which some Christian stores sell. I found a whole, huge set of the felt-board characters at a garage sale, but you can purchase them online I’m sure. Also try acting out the story or watch DVD’s. The Bible cartoons from http://www.nestentertainment.com/ are excellent.
Math – LOTS of manipulatives, Math-U-See is great for younger kids because of that. Also visual learning. Put math in everyday situations, like when you’re at the store or at home. “Colt, get me 2 apples. Now, get me 2 oranges. How many fruit do you have now? What fraction of apples vs oranges.” Things like that. We’re using Teaching Textbooks this year because it’s very visual. With early math, hands on is best.
English
Writing – my son’s handwriting is terrible, which is common with asperger’s/autistic kids. Lots of practice here is good. Let them write whatever they want…at least it’s writing practice. My son loved to write his own comics and fictional stories.
Phonics – Again, something that’s very visual and get’s their attention. Make up silly sentences with their phonics words. Sing silly songs that you make up. If you use flash cards, use ones with colorful pictures. I actually just made my own and would pick the silliest word to go with the phonic you’re trying to teach. Something like: Simon Snake slithered silently saying ssssss. My son thought that was funny because the snake wasn’t being silent if he was saying sssss. This taught him the sound and reinforced it with the sill sentence.
Reading – Just get them to read about things they are really interested in early on. One thing that worked for me to help encourage and older child to read a book they don’t really “want” to read is to choose a book that also has a movie. I would promise him he could watch the movie IF he read the book first. Many of the classics you can find older movies (which are often cleaner/less violent). Disney made a bunch of movies out of classic books in the 60′s, like Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Pollyanna, etc. These aren’t always perfectly true to the original book, but are usually pretty “safe” family movies. If your child is into dinosaurs, let them read all the children’s book in your library or the public library about dinosaurs. Especially with the beginning reader, let them direct their reading choices.
Grammar – Grammar’s one of Colt’s worse subjects, he just doesn’t like it at all…lol! Again, all I can suggest is lots of visual learning and hands-on.
History – Pretty much the same as for the Bible, act out the historical story, read historical fiction. Colt really likes the books by Joseph A. Altsheler, R.M. Ballantyne, G.A. Henty, the “Landmark” series of books, the “World Landmark” series of books (both Landmarks put out in the 50′s-60′s by Random House), the “Signature” series of books (put out in the 50′s-60′s by Grosset & Dunlap), Christian Heroes Then & Now Series (www.ywampublishing.com), Heroes for Young Readers (ywampublishing), Heroes of History for Young Readers (ywampublishing), & Heroes of History (ywampublishing). These all are very good books and are historically accurate. They were specifically written for children. ywampublishing is a Christian company and many of their books are written about missionaries and heroes of the Faith. Movies are another good way for them to learn, I stick with older movies because of the language/violence/sexual content. Animated Hero Classics (cartoons) by Nest entertainment are good and historically accurate. http://www.nestentertainment.com/animated-hero-classics_s3716.aspx For example, when we were studying World War II and talking about the Nazi prison camps, we watched “The Hiding Place”, the true story of Corrie ten Boom. That movie helped him to really understand the climate of the time and made those facts real to him. Netflix is a great resource for historical documentaries.
Science – Do lots of experiments! My son loves them and they really help him to learn. Also let them watch the Discovery channel when appropriate show are on. We have a lot of Discovery channel movies, as well as National Geographic. Netflix is a GREAT resource for documentaries of all sorts. PBS, is also good. You do have to watch for evolutionary elements with these shows, but for the most part, when watching say a documentary on “Elephants” they are pretty safe from evolutionary ideas. There are also lots of Science DVD’s you can buy that come from a creation standpoint. I can HIGHLY suggest the ones from Answers in Genesis and Vision Forum. Netflix has several Creationist documentaries available as well.
The main things that helped my son learn were to make as much of the learning hand-on and visual/auditory as possible. Not everything, but enough that the more traditional learning is made more fun. Plan for incentives. If you do____ well, then we’ll do ____. For example, if the boys do well all week at schooling then I often take them to get a treat at Sonic (root beer floats!). With younger students, the incentive should be pretty immediate so they don’t forget or get bored. “Finish your copywork neatly and you can play a game on the computer for 15 minutes”. I also have found that when it comes to discipline that having a list of behaviors and their consequences are good to have. This way they KNOW what consequences their behavior will bring. I like to use the if/then chart from Doorposts and will begin using the Child Training Bible as well in the next month or so (waiting for the items to arrive and we’re having a church wide project to do them together).
Asperger’s and autistic kids like to have everything spelled out for them. They DO NOT like change. Make changes very slowly and in steps. Make up a schedule for school and stick to it. Whatever order you do the subjects in, try not to change it. If you have to change things up, give them as much notice as you can to help them make the change. For example: If the child is on the computer and have to get off in 30 minutes. At 20 minutes give them a warning, “you have 10 more minutes”. Then at 25 minutes give them a warning, “You have 5 more minutes”. This helps their minds get into gear about getting off the computer. My son had temper tantrums unless we’d do this. Set a timer as well. The visual reminder of being able to see the timer and the auditory reminder of saying “You have….” and the timer ring does help them to start mentally making the change.
When going out in public, practice “public” behavior. Practice shaking hands or please/thank you. Practice anything your child might need to do or say while out. Practice what you do when you meet someone. 1.) look the person in the eye, 2.) say hello Mr./Mrs. ______, 3.) shake hands (practice how to do it). We drilled Colt every time we went out. Yes/no Sir/Ma’am, please, thank you, etc. This helped A LOT. We’d act out proper “public” behavior like a game and we did this before we would go out to eat or go to any event. Proper table manners, how to “properly” meet a person, how to talk to adults, just basic manners. The 2 biggest, at least for my husband, was for him to learn yes/no sir/ma’am and to hold open doors for women and for others. Also, to train them to LOOK the person they’re talking to in the eye. This is so HARD for Asperger’s and autistic kids. He’s now 19 and I still have to ask him to look me in the eye sometimes.
I am lucky, because both of my parents are special education teachers, so they helped me a lot. Please feel free to leave a comment/question if you have any specific questions, I’ll be happy to answer them!
Homeschooling a asperger’s/autistic child can be hard, but it’s also fun because, once you start getting into the hands-on aspect of it, there are so many fun things to do.
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Super Duper Publications is a company that offers a wide variety of educational tools geared towards kids with special needs. We recently were able to try out their computer program, HearBuilder Following Directions. HearBuilder Following Directions is a simple game that teaches children to listen carefully and follow directions. This game is geared towards grades K-3rd and costs $69.95 for the home edition.
While the game is colorful and engaging, it just did not interest my son. He did not enjoy playing it and complained of it being a “baby” game. He is 8 years old and has a 19 year old brother, so he’s use to playing more advanced games with his brother. He is also at the older end of the age recommendations. So you may wan to consider that before purchasing. Since it was such a struggle to get him to engage with the game, I am having a hard time writing a review.
I do think that HearBuilder Following Directions is a fantastic product, it just as not a good fit for our family. I admire the products that Super Duper Publications are providing for special needs students. From what I’ve seen, they do produce top quality products. I think that for younger students, HearBuilder Following Directions would be a great asset for teaching children to listen and follow directions. It’s a shame that my son did not enjoy the game more.
You can save 30% on HearBuilder Following Directions by using coupon code BLGFD30 before August 31st.
NOTICE: Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this item free from the creator. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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